Derek Adams says Burton Albion have undoubted talent in their ranks, but hopes the Shrimps will take the opportunity for maximum points.
Morecambe make the trip to Burton Albion on Saturday, with the Brewers just one place and one point above the Shrimps in the League One table in 23rd.
Whilst Dino Maamria’s men have struggled in the league so far, the gaffer acknowledges their qualities and believes it’ll be a challenging encounter for his players.
“We look to Burton Albion this weekend, which is another tough match for us in League One,” he said.
“They’re a well-equipped team with undoubted talent on their books, but they are where they are in the table at this moment in time, a place above us, and it’s an opportunity [for Morecambe] to try and get three points.
“I think Burton are a well-equipped League One side who have played in the Championship.
“We’re the only team other than Forest Green that have not been in League One more than one season I think; you look at all the rest of the teams, they’ve been in League One before.
“That shows you the gulf we’ve got to bridge, we understand that, we’re not denying that, but we’ve got to be respectful for the rest of the teams in this division and know what their capabilities are.”
Despite defeat last time out, Adams was pleased with how his side played against Ipswich, and he believes performances like that will gift the Shrimps points to climb the table.
He added: “It was a really strong performance, and we’ve had a lot of them this season.
“As I always say, it’s an extremely difficult division, a lot of good teams but in the end, if you can gather a number of wins in a quick period of time, it certainly propels you up the league.
“Teams are beating each other, unfortunately for us at this moment in time, we’ve come up against teams who, sometimes, have been better on the day.
“We obviously have to be finishing teams off when we get the opportunity, Kieran Phillips has scored three goals for us this season, Jensen Weir has scored four.
“Arthur [Gnahoua] has got two, but he’s obviously suspended, and we’ve still got to get Cole Stockton, who was the second highest goalscorer in the division last season, off the mark.
“These are the areas we need to improve on, I think we can score goals from a variety of positions, even from set plays as well.”